Frog Portage or Portage du Traite was one of the most important portages on the

voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...

route from eastern Canada to the Mackenzie River basin. It allowed boatmen to move from the

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...

basin to the Churchill River basin. The Churchill then led west to the Mackenzie River basin. The

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

route ran from

Cumberland House, Saskatchewan Cumberland House is a community in Census Division No. 18 in northeast Saskatchewan, Canada on the Saskatchewan River. It is the oldest settler community in Saskatchewan and has a population of about 2,000 people. Cumberland House Provincial P ...

north up the

Sturgeon-Weir River The Sturgeon-Weir River is a river in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It flows about south-southeast to join the Saskatchewan River at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. It was on the main voyageur route from eastern Canada northeast to the Mac ...

. At its source the 300-yard Frog Portage ran, with a 20-foot drop, to Trade Lake on the Churchill a few miles west of the mouth of Reindeer River. The route then ran at least 250 miles northwest up the Churchill to

Methye Portage The Methye Portage or Portage La Loche in northwestern Saskatchewan was one of the most important portages in the old fur trade route across Canada. The portage connected the Mackenzie River basin to rivers that ran east to the Atlantic. It was ...

which led to the Mackenzie basin. For background, see

Canadian canoe routes (early) This article covers the water based Canadian canoe routes used by early explorers of Canada with special emphasis on the fur trade. Introduction European exploration of Canada was principally by river. The land has many navigable rivers with ...

. The name is said to come from a dried frog skin that the Cree Nation put up in derision of the Chipewayan's incompetence in preparing beaver skin. The name Traite (trade) comes from Frobisher's coup (see below). Today there are still a plank road and push car. There is a cairn at the Churchill side.

Louis Primeau Louis Primeau or Primo ( fl. 1749–1800) was one of the first European fur traders on the Churchill River. Primeau Lake in northern Saskatchewan, Canada () is named after him. Little is known of his youth. Morton says that he was born in Quebec o ...

seems to have built a log hut on the Churchill side of the portage some time before 1774.Losey,page 80 In 1774 Primeau and Joseph Frobisher came north from Cumberland Lake to Primeau's hut and intercepted a large number of furs destined for the HBC at

Churchill, Manitoba Churchill is a town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname ...

. With all his canoes full he headed for

Grand Portage Grand Portage National Monument is a U.S. National Monument, United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritag ...

. In 1775 he, Thomas Frobisher and

Alexander Henry the elder Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

tried to return but were caught by the freeze at

Amisk Lake Amisk (Beaver) Lake is a lake in east-central Saskatchewan (south-west of Flin Flon) in Canada. 'Amisk' means beaver in Cree. Saskatchewan Highway 167 provides road access. Denare Beach, the largest settlement, is located on the east side of ...

. Next spring Thomas Frobisher went north and built a fort on the north bank of the Churchill. Joseph Frobisher and Alexander Henry followed a few months later. Again, they diverted a great deal of trade from the HBC. In 1777 Joseph Frobisher returned, but the HBC sent Robert Davey inland and he managed to ensure that the furs reached Hudson Bay.

Peter Pond Peter Pond (January 18, 1739 – 1807) was an American explorer, cartographer, merchant and soldier who was a founding member of the North West Company and the Beaver Club. Though he was born and died in Milford, Connecticut, most of his life ...

probably wintered near here in 1776-77 and 1777-78. The fort seems to have been abandoned after this. Primeau's hut is thought to have been on a small point near the north end of the portage and Frobisher's fort was probably across from the portage on the north side of Trade Lake. Frog Portage into the Churchill River

National Historic Event

Frog Portage was designated the ''Frog Portage National Historic Event'' in 1977. A plaque on the Churchill River reads:

Historic map

Starting from upstream the map shows Clear Lake now Churchill Lake (from the north) and the Beaver River (from the south) flowing into Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. Lac Île-à-la-Crosse then flows into the Churchill River (then also known as the Missinnippi or the English River). The length of the

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

s on this map are measured in yards.

References

*Eric C. Morse, 'Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada/Then and Now',1979 *Elizabeth Brown Losey, "Let Them Be Remembered: The Story of the Fur Trade Forts,1999

External links

Aboriginal History Unit: The Fur Trade, Frog Portage: Heading Them Off at the Portage

{{coord, 55, 23, 55, N, 103, 31, 57, W, display=title Portages in Canada Saskatchewan River Fur trade